


Jealousy

by Kiterie



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-29
Updated: 2011-11-29
Packaged: 2017-11-28 04:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/670417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiterie/pseuds/Kiterie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neji isn't jealous of Shino, because, after all, he's simply not in the same class as a Hyuuga.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jyukai-Koudan](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Jyukai-Koudan).



Neji isn't jealous of Shino, because, after all, he's simply _not_ in the same class as a Hyuuga. The Aburame Clan doesn't have the power or the skill to even begin to compare to the Hyuuga Clan. Nothing will ever change that, and even if it wasn't the case, Neji _knows_ that _he_ has the talent and the skill to set him far above Shino. It's _not_ that Shino is without his own abilities, and Neji doesn't dislike him, but it is a simple and rather obvious fact that he has nothing to be jealous of.

Then he sees Shino wandering out among the grasses of a meadow and simply communing with nature, not training until he's utterly exhausted, and for one short moment, he is. He is so jealous that he cannot stand himself. The fact that _he_ has no particular interest in wandering out in the empty field does little to ease the irritation he feels at the sight.

The only thing worse is that when Shino sees him, he smiles and motions him over.

Relief fills Neji then, and he knows. He knows that Shino feels none of the jealousy, sees none of the class lines between them, and it makes the jealousy that much worse.

He takes the invitation despite the fact that he never has the time to waste and in spite of the feelings it brings. He spares the time because he knows that the only way to conquer a feeling is to face it. Once he's bored, he knows the feelings will subside.

The problem is... he is _never_ bored.

One walk turns to two then three and before he knows it, Neji spends an hour in the afternoons, when neither is away on a mission, walking with Shino. Sometimes, it's in silence, and there's no pressure in the lack of words. Other times, Shino talks avidly with him, and it's a relaxing exchange between two intellectuals typically surrounded by those who aren't quite on the same level.

He realizes at some point the things that separate them are not as clear or as defined as he once believed. The days slip by, and the things he _knows_ change, and Neji wonders how he was ever so blind as to not have seen things the way he sees them _now_ , when he walks with Shino.

Shino who is calm, reserved, and quiet, but who wants to know all of the things that Neji has to share. Shino who is as honest and blunt with Neji as Lee, but in such a way that Neji is able to accept the things he says. Shino who is as warm as Tenten, and who's quiet smiles say more than Gai can manage with _all_ of his 'youthful' speeches.

The feelings he believed would change do change, but not in the way that he imagined they would.

In the end, it really is _simple_ and rather _obvious_ that Neji isn't jealous of Shino, because after all, it's hard to be jealous of someone who understands _you_.


End file.
